“The feeling isn’t mutual,” I say dryly. “In fact, I kind of hoped I’d never see you again since you wanted me dead and all.”
“That was a misunderstanding,” says Alpha Randall in a patronizing tone.
No. JustRandall. He’s not my fucking Alpha anymore. I’m not sure what exactly he’s doing here, but I don’t owe him anything. Least of all the respect of a title he doesn’t deserve.
I sneer at him. “How exactly is breaking damn near every bone in my body while I pleaded with you to stop a ‘misunderstanding’?”
“I lost my temper,” he says, baring his teeth at me in something I think is supposed to be a smile. His mask of civility is cracking. “What with the challenge the night before and the full moon—”
“And none of that was my fault. I didn’t ask for any of this.” I narrow my eyes. “Why are you here anyway? If you think I’m ever going back there, you’re dead wrong.”
“Alpha Rossi called.”Rossi’s behind this?“He said you were in trouble and—”
“I don’t give a flying fuck what that asshole said. Four years ago, you wouldn’t have pissed on me if I was on fire, so why show up now? What do you get out of this? What did he promise you?”
I study my former Alpha. The past four years don’t seem to have been horribly kind to him. His face is more haggard than I remember and his clothes, though clean, are well-worn and threadbare. He’s lost some weight, not enough to make him small, but enough to show he probably hasn’t been eating like he should. My old pack was never exactly rolling in money, but they took care of themselves better than this.
Everything I’ve learned recently about omegas plays through my mind. Remy said omegas could bring prosperity to their packs. Would that apply to packs they were members of but not mated into? Could kicking me out have made my former pack’s fortunes take a turn for the worse? If so, would Randall have even realized it?
I doubt it and Rossi damn sure wouldn’t have told him since Rossi wants me—well, pieces of me anyway—for himself. So, Rossi probably didn’t tell Randall to come take me back, instead he brought Randall here with the promise of something else. But what? Whatever Rossi offered, it was enough to draw the good ol’ Alabama wolf all the way to Chicago and there aren’t a lot of things that motivate Randall—exceptmoney.
“How much?” I ask.
Randall’s eyes meet mine and his brows furrow in confusion. “How much what?”
“How much money did Rossi offer for you to…what?” I walk a circle around Randall, trying to piece together what Rossi could possibly get out of this. “Sell me to him? But Rossi’s past and current practices aside, he couldn’t be that blatant with the triumvirate involved.”
I’m completely talking out of my ass, but I doubt Randall knows any more about the triumvirate than I do.
“A mating alliance,” says another voice I haven’t heard in four years, this one slightly more welcome. Not by much, though. My cousin, Luke, exits one of the bedrooms, then sits down on the couch, his elbows resting on his knees and his shoulders slumped.
“Times have been tough lately,” says Randall. “The pack businesses just aren’t bringing in the money they used to and—”
“And you think I’m just going to go along with this?” I throw my hands up, my voice rising. “Are you insane?”
Randall stalks toward me, all pretense of politeness dropping away. “You’ll do what I tell you, boy. As your closest living relativeandyour Alpha I—”
“You’re not my Alpha,” I snarl.
“Pack law says I am.” He grabs the nape of my neck and squeezeshard.It’s the same hold Dante used to calm me when he cornered me in my bedroom, but with Randall, the move is painful and malicious. Randall allows his claws out to prick at my skin, then leans down to speak directly into my ear, his voice laced with command. “Kneel,abomination.”
Between the grip he has on my neck and the power in his voice, I’m forced to comply. I go to my knees at Randall’s feet, my eyes burning at the humiliation. I haven’t been twisted to an Alpha’s will like this in years—not even Rossi forcing a partial shift was this degrading—and I almost forgot how awful it is.
“Good boy.” Randall releases my neck and pats me on the head like a dog. “Luke, call Alpha Rossi and let him know we’re ready for him.”
The last thing I need is for Rossi to come up here. I don’t want to give Randall any advantages, but I don’t have a hell of a lot of choices right now.
“Rossi played you,” I say in a flat voice. “What’d he offer? Twenty thousand? Thirty?”
“Fifty,” says Randall smugly.
I scoff, then pull my gaze up to meet Randall’s, something I never would have done when I still lived with my old pack. “Is that all you think I’m worth to him? He must’ve looked into my past to find you, so he at least had an idea of how little you think of me. All he had to do was pick an amount that, to you, a backwoods country Alpha, would sound like a lot. He probably spent near that much getting you up here on such short notice. Let me guess, he sent a private plane?” I gesture around the room. “The nightly rate for this room is at least a few thousand and thisentire hotelbelongs to him. Fifty thousand dollars is pocket change to him.”
Randall studies my face, then looks at Luke. “Hold off on that call. I’ll do it myself. Alpha Rossi and I are going to need to renegotiate the terms of our deal.”
I look away to hide my smile. Randall is just as greedy as I remember and I’ve just bought myself some time. Now, all I need to do is find a way to get back to Julien.
Twenty-One
